Walking on Water: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

didn’t you tell me you were doing this?”
    “You weren’t around.”
    “I was here for two months. You never once mentioned that you were working on your history.”
    “I didn’t think you’d be interested.”
    “I’m interested.”
    I sensed that he was pleased.
    “Do you mind if I read what you’ve written?”
    “No. Of course not. Who else would want to?” A moment later he asked, “Is Nicole here?”
    “She’s in the hall.”
    “Good,” he said. “She’s a good girl.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “Was it hard seeing her? After your last parting?”
    “It was a little awkward. But she’s been great.”
    “She has a heart of gold,” he said. He paused a moment, then asked, “How about Falene? Did you find her?”
    “Your friend Carroll found her. I haven’t talked to her yet.”
    “Why not?”
    “He just called yesterday. There was already too much on my mind.”
    “You mean with me?”
    “Yes.”
    He took a deep breath. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
    “I do worry . . .” I paused, suddenly filled with emotion. “I’m sorry I left. I should have been there for you.”
    He looked at me for a moment, then said, “No. You did the right thing. You couldn’t have seen this coming. Hell, I didn’t see it coming. I’ve been eating wheat bread and egg whites for the last ten years, I jog two miles every day and never miss my morning calisthenics. I thought I was going to live forever.” He shook his head. “No, you did the right thing. You need to finish your walk.”
    The room fell into silence. After a while he said, “Why don’t you tell Nicole to come in?”
    “I’ll get her,” I said.
    I walked out into the corridor. Nicole was standing near the door clutching a crumpled Kleenex. She lookedup at me as I came out. Her eyes were swollen. “My dad wants to see you.”
    “I don’t know if I should go in,” she said. “I can’t stop crying.”
    “It’ll be okay,” I said. “He wants you there.”
    She wiped her eyes one more time, then walked to the side of my father’s bed and reached over the rail to take his hand. “Good morning,” she said.
    “It is,” he said. “I’m with my two favorite people.” He looked into her eyes. “Why are you crying?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m a crier.”
    “Me too,” he said. “It’s a curse.”
    In spite of her tears, Nicole started laughing. Then my father did as well. “Come give me a hug,” he said. “Does this rail thing go down?”
    Nicole dropped the side railing, and my father extended his arms toward her. She put her head on his chest and he put his arms around her, consoling her. She broke down crying. After a while she leaned back and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “Everything will be okay.”
    “I know,” she said. “I know you will.”
    “So what’s on the agenda today?” I asked.
    “I have no agenda,” he said.
    “How about some chess?” I said.
    “Chess will do.” He looked at Nicole. “Do you want to play?”
    “I’ll watch,” she said.
    The hospital had a chess set, and my father and I played just one game before he stopped to take a nap. He won, of course. I had never beaten him at chess. Even when I was young and he was teaching me he showed no mercy.
    I stayed with him for the rest of the day, except when I went down to the cafeteria for lunch and Nicole spelled me.
    He woke around two and ate lunch. We talked for several more hours, mostly about the last leg of my walk, though several times while we were talking he dozed off, once in the middle of a sentence. A nurse came in to check his vitals, and I asked her if sleeping this much was normal. She assured me that it was.
    My father fell asleep around four and didn’t wake again until after six. He looked surprised to see us.
    “What are you still doing here?” he asked. “Afraid you’re going to miss something?”
    “We didn’t want to leave you alone,”